Hermetic Library Anthology Album

Magick, Music and Ritual 4

Summer 2012 / Album

Released: Aug 10, 2012

This Summer 2012 issue from the anthology project is the fourth release but also the penultimate album in the first full cycle of seasons for the anthology project. Magick, Music and Ritual 4 brings together over 3 hours of music which span 2 physical CDs plus a bonus track for digital downloads.

I've given somewhat poetical names to the several parts of this issue based on how each part of the overall playlist felt to me as I was putting it together. The first part of this issue seems to me carries the feeling of Summer during the day, that gives the gift of the Voice of the Sun. The second part seems like a darker journey reminiscent of the Summer at night, offering a Vision of the Moon. The bonus track is a binaural meditation that could be taken as that liminality in the very dark before the light returns when consciousness is altered, a dream time when is heard the Silence of the Stars. These three parts are each distinct, in that they have each a character of their own, but they also participate in a complete and contiguous playlist.

The artists who have participated on this anthology album span continents, languages, countries, and regions. There are a variety of ages, experience levels, styles here as well. Some artists have participated before on anthology albums or in the Hermetic Library sound pool, while some have not been heard before in either.

The ongoing visual theme of the anthology covers has past the bright promise of Spring, represented in the previous, and now smolders in the crazy-making heat of Summer. The Sun has conquered the sky and this brings the leisurely joy of wealth, the ecstatic exertion of work and also the weary climax of both.

Summer to me is a union of many opposites that transcends the abyss of differences. This issue of the anthology seems to be an exploration of that idea and feeling.

Please join the Hermetic Library in promoting these artists who have contributed their work to this benefit anthology album project. Please also spread the word about these anthology albums to people you think may be interested in the work of artists who combine magick, music and ritual.

Release Notes

The Hermetic Library at Hermetic.com has an overall vision of Archiving, Engaging and Encouraging the living Western Esoteric Tradition. I started the benefit anthology project to help promote newer works in the Western Esoteric Tradition to the audience of the Hermetic Library and beyond. The anthology project also further raises awareness about the corpus and culture of magick and ritual.

The Summer 2012 anthology has been exciting and amazing to put together. Although I've been thinking of the anthology as a playlist that would fit on a single physical disc, the number of artists, and the variety of submissions, made it pretty clear to me early on that I was going to need more than just a single physical disc to contain what was coming together. The number of artists and styles in this issue is impressive, but I've also enjoyed how artists from many regions and countries and languages have come together this time around. In many ways this issue is by far the most cosmopolitan in that is has brought together an international and cross-cultural mix of work. Being able to represent that reality of the overall esoteric tradition in this selected anthology is something that I personally find fulfilling.

Also, as I have been putting this issue together I have become more and more aware that the next issue marks a full cycle of seasons for the anthology project. I still have on my personal bucket-list the idea of living in another country, another culture, for a full cycle of seasons; and I look forward to doing that some day. But in a way, this project has felt like that kind of accomplishment to me. I have been able to get to know many new people I now consider to be friends through this project. I have also been able to explore the music of so many artists I might not otherwise have run across through not only the anthology project but also the ongoing audio pool. While I have gotten a lot from this, I do also hope others have been enjoying these anthologies as much as I have enjoyed putting them together.

I encourage you to check out the Hermetic Library at Hermetic.com, if you aren’t already familiar with it, as that’s the reason this project exists and may also offer inspiration to you. The site was started in 1996 and has ever since consistently been an extremely popular resource for students and researchers interested in the Western Esoteric Tradition. You may also wish to check out other posts at the Hermetic Library blog and the Twitter and Facebook reflections to see how the library engages people in a living Western Esoteric Tradition.

— John Griogair Bell

Production, Artwork and Design by John Griogair Bell
Mastering by SickTanicK of SKR